On the basis of recent expansion in consumption, rapid increase of economic scale, and expansion of sales network based on information communication technology, consequent to increased individual income, credit provision system arising from consumer credit system has spread rapidly. In Korea, since the first bank credit card was introduced in 1982, use of credit card and credit transactions using the credit cards have rapidly increased.
“Credit Card” is a kind of customer credit, which refers to the whole meaning of a certified payment method issued by the bank to its qualified members. And the credit transaction using this credit card uses the system of the transaction amount is paid in advance by the credit card company and collect it from the members following.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a typical credit transaction method using a credit card. The credit transaction is made by three entities including a card company 10, a franchisee 20, and a member 30.
The card company 10 issues credit card to the member 30 according to a membership contract and, as a financial organization, makes a separate franchise contract with the franchisee 20, it is the credit extension subject. The member 30, an individual or a corporation possessing the credit card, is a consuming subject. The franchisee 20, as a selling subject, is equipped with a communication terminal capable of checking reference of the member 30 and communicating with the card company 10.
Therefore, when the member 30 presents the credit card after purchasing desired product at the franchisee 20, the franchisee 20 sends a request for credit approval by sending information including the card's proper information, purchase amount, installation period, franchisee ID (Identification) etc to the card company 10. The card company 10 approves or refuses the transaction based on the member 30's personal credit information such as a payment capability. If the transaction is approved, a bill of sales is issued through the terminal. Then the franchisee 20 charges this amount to the card company 10, which after examination pays the purchase amount to the franchisee 20, and collects the amount from the account of the member 30 on the due payment date.
For reference, credit cards in general are classified into a one-party card such as a department store card directly issued by a seller, a two-party card issued by a credit card company that performs credit card business only, and a multi-party card issued by a bank. A Value Added Network (VAN) Service provider may be interposed between the card company 10 and the franchisee 20 for providing additional services, such as a service of relaying transaction approval and billing, and checking abnormal transaction. Therefore, a specific form of transaction may differ from this illustration.
However, a typical credit transaction using a credit card is made between a selling subject, the franchisee 20, and a consuming subject, the member 30, and it cannot be made between the members 30.
Which means, on a premise that a typical credit transaction is made between the franchisee 20, which has independent contract with the card company 10, and the member 30, the franchisee 20 becomes a selling subject and the member 30 becomes a consuming according to the contract. On this account, in a general credit transaction a transaction between members 30, excluding franchisee 20 is in substance impossible. To make this possible, a member 30 who wishes to perform sales must become a selling subject by making a separate franchise contract with the card company.
Meanwhile, with recent increase of the use of internet, electronic commerce (i.e., E-Commerce) has become generalized.
‘E-commerce’ in goods or service transaction generally refers to transactions that are fully or partially handled in an electronic manner, such as through electronic document exchange. Normally, the E-commerce is made in the form of business to customer (B2C), business to business (B2B), peer to peer (P2P), auction by a seller, or reverse auction by a customer, via websites such as cybermalls or open markets, or internet messenger. The payment is made by the means such as electronic credit transaction using credit card and digital certificate, remittance through an individual's bank account or virtual account, and cyber money.
To give a few examples, Korean Patent Laid-open Publication No. 10-2001-0056939 discloses a wired/wireless e-commerce method by which individuals interconnected by Internet messenger, make payment by means of an electronic payment via financial network after closing contract of transaction. A financial transaction method disclosed in Korean Patent Laid-open Publication No. 10-2003-0047672 introduces method of payment with cyber money after individuals interconnected by a messenger close contract. Another financial transaction system is disclosed in Korean Patent Laid-open Publication No. 10-2001-0082518, which is paying purchase amount by means of electronic money such as cyber money after individuals interconnected by separate P2P system close a transaction contract.
In conventional e-commerce, however, the contact space of a seller and a consumer is limited to on-line websites or Internet messengers, and payment methods have only been substituted by electronic credit transaction, virtual account, and cyber money.
Therefore, there is no substantial difference compared to cash transaction, remittance through bank account, credit card transaction apart from slightly enhanced convenience, but has a drawback that one transaction is completed only when consumer pays purchase amount every transaction to seller and the seller confirms that the purchase amount is collected. Also, there is a high risk where consumer might not receive the purchased product or service after payment because there is no personal contact with the seller, and also a possibility that the purchased product or service is below expected value and find difficulty in negotiating reasonable price, which in this case there is no other solution but to cancel the whole transaction.
Concerning this issue, a method by which individuals make a direct contract with each other and remit purchase amount to a special virtual account-escrow account—was introduced as disclosed in Korean Patent Laid-open Publication No. 10-2005-005550. However, though this method guarantees stable transaction via the escrow, it still requires the procedure of a consumer paying purchase amount every transaction and a seller confirming the payment. Moreover, in recent e-commerce transaction, classifying the subjects role is becoming more and more ambiguous, and the transaction is being diversified from merely a simple product purchase.
Thus, there is a need for a more convenient and safe financial transaction scheme overcoming limitation on credit transaction, and avoiding a risk of e-commerce as well as eliminating the inconvenience of cash transaction or E-commerce.